“The belief in mermaids may have arisen at the very dawn of our species,” explains NOAA. “Magical female figures first appear in cave paintings in the late Paleolithic (Stone Age) period some 30,000 years ago, when modern humans gained dominion over the land and, presumably, began to sail the seas. Half-human creatures, called chimeras, also abound in mythology — in addition to mermaids, there were wise centaurs, wild satyrs, and frightful minotaurs, to name but a few.

“But are mermaids real? No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.”

Despite NOAA coming clean on mermaids, there’s no word yet of a similar news release on the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.

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